His insurance company told him it would be covered 100 percent, with no copayment from him and no charge against his deductible. The nation's 1-year-old health law requires most insurance plans to cover all costs for preventive care including colon cancer screening. So Dunphy had the procedure in April.

Then the bill arrived: $1,100.

Dunphy, a 61-year-old Phoenix small business owner, angrily paid it out of his own pocket because of what some prevention advocates call a loophole. His doctor removed two noncancerous polyps during the colonoscopy. So while Dunphy was sedated, his preventive screening turned into a diagnostic procedure. That allowed his insurance company to bill him.

Not that anyone in FR would give a flying monkey...but the VEBA (UAW retiree health care) does this, too, in spades. Its what Obama care will do.

The point is that nothing is free. Sure, something might be covered at 100%, but that doesn't mean it's free. It just means that premiums rise (or taxes go up in the case of government provided healthcare).

If the government mandated that some procedure was to be truly "free" (as in the provider may not bill an insurance company or the government), that procedure would no longer be offered by virtually any provider.

5
posted on 12/28/2011 4:27:06 AM PST
by markomalley
(Nothing emboldens the wicked so greatly as the lack of courage on the part of the good-Pope Leo XIII)

RE :”His insurance company told him it would be covered 100 percent, with no copayment from him and no charge against his deductible. The nation's 1-year-old health law requires most insurance plans to cover all costs for preventive care including colon cancer screening. So Dunphy had the procedure in April. Then the bill arrived: $1,100. Dunphy, a 61-year-old Phoenix small business owner, angrily paid it out of his own pocket because of what some prevention advocates call a loophole. His doctor removed two noncancerous polyps during the colonoscopy. So while Dunphy was sedated, his preventive screening turned into a diagnostic procedure. That allowed his insurance company to bill him. Like many Americans, Dunphy has a high-deductible insurance plan. He hadn't spent his deductible yet. So, on top of his $400 monthly premium, he had to pay the bill.”

This will be fixed in 2014 when the full Obama-care goes into effect and outlaws his 'high deductible' plan and his insurance premiums triple to $1200. He is one of the Americans that Obama and Democrats called free riders.

On the bright side he will pay nothing for Breast Cancer Xrays that women need that he is forced to pay for in his premiums as well as women's reproductive health related tests.

6
posted on 12/28/2011 4:33:14 AM PST
by sickoflibs
(You MUST support the lesser of two RINOs or we all die!)

The exact same thing happened to me a couple of months ago.
I pay over $450 a month in insurance, and thank God, I am healthy—never using it. I was talked into the “free” screening. A “benign tiny polyp was removed” (their words) when I was “out” (wow, that was good stuff...)and my part of the procedure went from my $30 copay to over $1,000. Alas.

It makes no sense at all that a colonoscopy is “preventive care.” A colonoscopy doesn’t prevent anything, except a good night’s sleep and a pleasant day afterward: it is solely a diagnostic procedure. Either the view shows nothing, or it shows something that requires medical action, such as polyps or a tumor.

8
posted on 12/28/2011 5:05:59 AM PST
by Tax-chick
(Two women in one house ... and one of 'em a redhead!)

Removing polyps, on the other hand, is “preventive” in the true sense, because the polyps do not go on to become cancerous tumors. All my close family members over age 40 have had polyps removed (except my brother, who won’t get a colonoscopy). None of us has yet developed colon cancer, and my mother is in her 70s and my aunt in her 80s.

10
posted on 12/28/2011 5:12:08 AM PST
by Tax-chick
(Two women in one house ... and one of 'em a redhead!)

It makes no sense at all that a colonoscopy is preventive care. A colonoscopy doesnt prevent anything, except a good nights sleep and a pleasant day afterward: it is solely a diagnostic procedure. Either the view shows nothing, or it shows something that requires medical action, such as polyps or a tumor.

I'm cool with calling colonoscopies in asymptomatic patients "preventative". But if they find something and remove it, that's something else.

That's fine, but it's still inaccurate. A colonoscopy is looking for something wrong. That's diagnosis, by definition, even if it diagnoses nothing wrong at the present time.

A high-fiber diet is "preventative" for colon cancer, to some extent. Quitting smoking and getting more exercise are "preventative," reducing the risk of many types of cancer. Colonoscopies, x-rays, and other "Is there a cancer?" procedures are diagnostic.

12
posted on 12/28/2011 5:21:40 AM PST
by Tax-chick
(Two women in one house ... and one of 'em a redhead!)

The entire article keeps complaining that something that is supposed to be “free” is not being paid for by the insurance companies. How these “journalists” sleep at night baffles me. Hint: if your complaint is that another party is not funding the services you consume, then you are admitting the service is not free and you admitting that your desire is for Atlas to carry your weight.

I just had one of those dozies and I was not out...I heard every word they said and felt a lot of cramping that was quite severe....I hope I don't get dinged on my insurance because they bx one area....

apparently, there is a fentanyl shortage...one of the two drugs usually used in scopes...and I was on the short end of the stick so to speak with the inferior drug....

People should just find out for certain, in detail, what their insurance covers, so they won’t be surprised. This requires thinking through what might happen and probably phoning a representative to discuss each potentially billable event.

I had my colonoscopy using a bit of labor breathing and a recorded book on my husband’s iPod. No big deal compared to just about anything else I’ve been through, medically, and I was fully functional ten minutes later.

22
posted on 12/29/2011 4:21:03 AM PST
by Tax-chick
(Two women in one house ... and one of 'em a redhead!)

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